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What loosens your tongue? | ||
Tags: Speaking | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Bao Diglot Senior Member Germany tinyurl.com/pe4kqe5 Joined 5765 days ago 2256 posts - 4046 votes  Speaks: German*, English Studies: French, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin | Message 9 of 38 07 January 2013 at 7:37am | IP Logged | ||
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What makes me speak sooner and express more complex ideas than I am comfortable with is the knowledge that I possess information that is important to somebody else's wellbeing, and the only medium to get this across is to use the other's language.
In such a situation I stop caring about my inhibition and embarrassment, and try until I manage to get that point across. Edited by Bao on 07 January 2013 at 5:47pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| renaissancemedi Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Greece Joined 4357 days ago 941 posts - 1309 votes Speaks: Greek*, Ancient Greek*, EnglishC2 Studies: French, Russian, Turkish, Modern Hebrew | Message 10 of 38 07 January 2013 at 8:50am | IP Logged | ||
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Cristina, you start the most interesting threads.
I don't have a problem speaking at all (totally shameless!) and it is a concious decision. When I was younger I was terribly shy, to the point of having problems speaking up even in a classroom. That bothered me a lot, so I pushed myself to talk nomatter what. The same goes for foreign languages. We meet so many tourists here, who ask directions and help all the time. So, half language, half gestures, one always manages to communicate, plus they are very grateful for every single word you can say in their language. Now, my experience in Paris could have been distructive to my self confidence, but, as I said, I am shameless! Some of the french people I met there (not all of course), were not happy with my mistakes and they displayed that on their face. One lady went so far as to rudely correct one article, of all things, shouting it in my face as if I had insulted her family. I couldn't care less, I assure you. And I paid no attention, although I was tempted never to speak french to another french tourist visiting Greece ever again. But of course I am always happy to practice my french. Not to mention that my husband spoke in English, and people answered him in french! As I said, not everyone, some people were very kind. In Italy, a different situation. Everything I could speak they happily listened to, and responded very politely. At my job I met a russian gentleman, and I spoke a few words in russian apologizing for how bad it is. He started saying: no, it doesn't matter, keep talking even with mistakes, that's the only way to learn! He was so kind! So I guess my trigger is to overcome my horrible shyness, and to bother a few nasty people if I can, hehe! That, and any conversation on politics. That loosens my tongue all right! But basically, I feel such pleasure communicating, that I don't care how I do it. If I wait to be perfect in a language, I will never speak it. If I don't practice it I will never learn it properly. Frankly, it's hard work learning a language, and I want to enjoy its fruits. 12 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tractor Tetraglot Senior Member Norway Joined 5452 days ago 1349 posts - 2292 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Spanish, Catalan Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 11 of 38 07 January 2013 at 9:23am | IP Logged | ||
A little bit of alcohol helps. Rage definitely doesn't and probably not fear either. Edited by tractor on 07 January 2013 at 9:24am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Majka Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic kofoholici.wordpress Joined 4656 days ago 307 posts - 755 votes Speaks: Czech*, German, English Studies: French Studies: Russian | Message 12 of 38 07 January 2013 at 10:30am | IP Logged | ||
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For me, a little bit alcohol helps.
Actually, the first few times I did "real" interpreting in a business meeting for my father and his business partner, my father was the one who gave me the drink. I was barely 18 and usually very afraid of making tiniest grammar mistake. It worked. Give me a bottle of wine, and unless you drink the same and the "beer goggles" start working for understanding, we have a problem. The slurring works the same in my native language as in the target ones. In the meantime, I simply learned to push myself, to make myself more comfortable when the proverbial spotlights are on me. But it took quite a long time. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| garyb Triglot Senior Member ScotlandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5206 days ago 1468 posts - 2413 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, French Studies: Spanish | Message 13 of 38 07 January 2013 at 12:33pm | IP Logged | ||
Alcohol tends to have mixed effects on me, and for languages that's no exception: sometimes it makes me more relaxed and less worried about making mistakes, so I speak better, but if I'm already feeling uncomfortable or "in my head" then drinking sometimes just makes things worse. I think that, like others have said, comfort is the main factor, and that depends on a lot of different variables.
This is a big one for me as well, especially for accent. When I'm hearing several other people speak naturally I start to pick up their accents. Sadly this seems to only be a temporary effect. On the other hand, being around a bunch of natives who're speaking full-speed can make me a bit nervous about joining in, which has a negative effect. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| maydayayday Pentaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5218 days ago 564 posts - 839 votes Speaks: English*, German, Italian, SpanishB2, FrenchB2 Studies: Arabic (Egyptian), Russian, Swedish, Turkish, Polish, Persian, Vietnamese Studies: Urdu | Message 14 of 38 07 January 2013 at 6:29pm | IP Logged | ||
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Pretty women.....
A glass of wine helps too; but I hope she doesn't need too much! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| zerrubabbel Senior Member United States Joined 4599 days ago 232 posts - 287 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Mandarin | Message 15 of 38 07 January 2013 at 11:08pm | IP Logged | ||
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I would have to say my answer is drowsiness... while Im down and not really wanting to say much but would rather
begin or go back to sleep, I dont have all my bearings and I think that allows a more free feeling making my japanese easier to understand both grammar wise, and recalling words it don't think I really know yet... as for alcohol, Im too young here and have not had any since I started learning languages... I do have a bit of a temper sometimes, but I dont make it to rage too often XD something Im curious about though, is if warming up or spontaneity has any effect... I guess I dont do either, because through out the day I have music playing, or am reading something in japanese or something like that... 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| FELlX Diglot Groupie France Joined 4769 days ago 94 posts - 149 votes Speaks: French*, English | Message 16 of 38 08 January 2013 at 12:27am | IP Logged | ||
1 person has voted this message useful |
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